Clear proof that last week’s precisely scheduled rapture didn’t happen came earlier this week, when Oprah Winfrey shot her last show in Chicago (clearly Oprah would be on the rapture list, right?). On her last show, O had on her favorite guest—herself—in which she gave a “sermon,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, and a love message, says the Herald Sun. Perhaps Oprah’s power only delayed the impending rapture, since Harold Camping (he of the May 21 prediction) called a mulligan, saying that it’s actually going to be October 21. Maybe God was just so eager to the final taping that he forestalled the rapture so s/he could tune in? (More seriously, at least one teen, allegedly influenced by the prediction, committed suicide in Russia.) In any event, for all of you captivated by and mourning the loss of the Oprah Winfrey Show, here’s your chance to catch up on the news and test yourself with our weekly quiz.

Questions

Will I be the Republican to take on Barack Obama in 2012?

1. Which former Minnesota governor announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination this week?

2. What automobile company repaid more than $7 billion in loans to the Canadian and U.S. governments?

3. Which U.S. state passed into law a plan that will make it the first to have a state-run single payer health system?

4. What eggish sensation made an appearance on Saturday Night Live this week and followed it up with the release of her latest album?

5. A devastating tornado ripped through what Missouri town, killing more than 125 people?

6. Prosecutors announced this week that what former African leader will stand trial for ordering the killing of protestors in an uprising earlier this year?

7. What Russian prisoner, formerly the country’s richest man, had his conviction upheld this week?

Scroll down for the answers.

Answers

1. Tim Pawelenty. The former governor (2003-11) of Minnesota last year published his autobiography, Courage to Stand: An American Story, and he’s following through on that title, releasing an Internet video on Sunday declaring his candidacy for the Republican 2012 presidential nomination and promising to “tell the American people the truth.” Though polling a mere 6% in recent polls (trailing even former Godfather’s Pizza exec Herman Cain), with many top-tier Republicans opted out of 2012, many pundits expect Pawlenty to make a strong challenge

2. Chrysler. In late 2008-09, as part of an emergency financial rescue package, Chrysler received billions of dollars from the U.S. federal government (and the Canadian government) to help them restructure and avoid a mammoth bankruptcy. Nevertheless, the company did file chapter 11 in April 2009, and two months later it finalized a deal with Fiat, which acquired most of the company’s assets and took a 20% stake in the automaker (since increased). A new company was formed, Chrysler Group LLC, and in the first year of a reorganization the company posted a substantial sales increase. In their press release on Tuesday, Chrysler announced that it had repaid the U.S. Treasury $5.9 billion and Export Development Canada $1.7 billion, thus retiring their loans. So, end of story, right? Well, Politifact says that Chrysler’s claim that it’s square with the U.S. taxpayer is only “half-true,” that the total actually represents 100% of the money the Obama administration had invested and 85% of the overall funds provided by the U.S. government, largely because Chrysler Group LLC has paid all its money back, but “old Chrysler” hadn’t paid all the money. Dizzying?

3. Vermont. A single-payer, government-run health plan was the dream of many liberals in the United States, but when President Barack Obama signed a national health-care law in 2009, even a government option was ditched. This week, though, liberals can take delight in the new legislation enacted in Vermont, signed on Thursday by Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin. The new law has devised a plan “to create the nation’s first state-run ‘single-payer’ health system.” A lot of ifs and buts in this plan, since it doesn’t actually create a plan (a board has to find a way to pay for it by January 2013), and the earliest a system could be implemented, per the federal health-care law, would be 2017 (and Vermont would need a waiver from the federal government). (There is talk that states might be able to implement alternatives in 2014, but that would require legislation.)

4. Lady Gaga. Her ladyship emerged from an egg on Saturday Night Live this week and sang the title track of Born This Way, her newest album. The album, in which she reached back to earlier musical eras for inspiration, dropped on Monday. Gaga being Gaga, controversy abounds. When she released the cover art in April, of her head built into a motorcycle, some fans cried foul.

6. Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak led Egypt for nearly 30 years before he was ousted in February. On April 10 the public prosecutor announced that Mubarak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, would be questioned by investigators. Following the announcement, Mubarak made his first public statements since stepping down as president, denying the accusations of corruption. On April 12, while waiting to be questioned, Mubarak was hospitalized after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Mubārak was held in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh after an official medical evaluation concluded that his health was too fragile for him to be transferred to prison in Cairo. In May the Egyptian state media reported that his condition had stabilized, although he needed to be treated for depression. On Tuesday, May 24, the public prosecutor announced that Mubarak, Alaa, and Gamal would stand trial for ordering the killing of protesters as well as for corruption and abuse of power.

7. Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The former Russian oil tycoon was first imprisoned in 2003 on charges of fraud and tax evasion. In 2007 additional charges were filed against him as his term was about to expire, and in December 2010 he was found guilty and sentenced to an additional term of seven years. Reports surfaced that the judge might have been under political pressure to convict Khodorkovsky, who has been one of the chief critiques of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. Earlier this week, a Russian court upheld the conviction, but it did reduce his sentence by one year, making him eligible to be set free in 2016.